Mop element nipper and stick

ABSTRACT

A MOP ELEMENT NIPPER AND STICK FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF A MOP INTENDED FOR USE IN CLEANING AND DUSTING THE BODY SURFACES OF AUTOMOBILES OR LIKE CONSTRUCTIONS AND BEING MADE OF A MATERIAL SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF METALS, HARD DYNTHETIC RESINS AND WOODS AND HAVING THE STRUCTURE COMPRISING A BASE MEMBER FORMED IN THE CENTRAL PORTION THEREOF, TWO UPPER AND LOWER NIPPING TRODS EACH HAVING A T-SHAPED CORES SECTION AND EXTENDING FORWARDLY FROM THE FRONT SIDE OF SAID BASE MEMBER, SAID T-SHAPED RODS BEING ARRANGED IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE TOP HORIZONTAL FACES OF THE FLANGE-LIKE MEMBERS OF THESE T-SHAPED OPPOSE EACH OTHER, SAID OPPOSING FACES OF THE SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL TRANSVERSE FLANGE-LIKE MEMBERS OF SAID T-SHAPED NIPPING RODS BEING IN CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER AT THE FOREMOST ENDS OF SAID NIPPING RODS AND PARTING FROM EACH OTHER WITH A GRADUALLY INCREASING CLEARANCE THEREBETWEEN AS THE NIPPING RODS GO CLOSER TO SAID BASE MEMBER TO FORM A DIVERGING GAP THEREBETWEEN, SAID MOP ELEMENT NIPPER AND STICK STRUCTURE FURTHER COMPRISING A HANDLING STICK EXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM THE REAR SIDE OF SAID BASE MEMBER IN A SLIGHTLY DOWNWARDLY ANGLED DIRECTION RELATIVE TO THE CENTRAL LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID DIVERGING GAP DEFINED BETWEEN THE OPPOSING TOP FACES OF THE T-SHAPES OF SAID UPPER AND THE LOWER NIPPING RODS THE MOP HAVING THIS STRUCTURE PROVIDES A RESILIENCY AND HANDLING CONVENIENCE WHICH HAS NEVER BEFORE BEEN POSSIBLE IN CLEANING OR DUSTING THE EXTERNAL CURVED BODY SURFACES OF AUTOMOBILES OR LIKE CONSTRUCTIONS.

SHIGEHARU KOMAI Er AL Feb. 23, 1971 MOP ELEMENT NIPPER AND STICK 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 31, 1968 i INVENTORS MW, 97 ,MM

ATTORNEYS 1971 SHIGIEHARU KQMAI E AL 3,564,635

MOP ELEMENT NIPPER AND STICK 2iSheetsShe9t 2 Filed Dec. 31, 1968 v QEUnited States Patent Office 3,554,635 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 US. Cl.15147 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mop element nipper and stickfor the manufacture of a mop intended for use in cleaning and dustingthe body surfaces of automobiles or like constructions and being made ofa material selected from the group consisting of metals, hard syntheticresins and woods and having the structure comprising a base memberformed in the central portion thereof, two upper and lower nipping rodseach having a T-shaped cross section and extending forwardly from thefront side of said base member, said T-shaped rods being arranged insuch a way that the top horizontal faces of the flange-like members ofthese T-shapes oppose each other, said opposing faces of thesubstantially horizontal transverse flange-like members of said T-shapednipping rods being in contact with each other at the foremost ends ofsaid nipping rods and parting from each other with a graduallyincreasing clearance therebetween as the nipping rods go closer to saidbase member to form a diverging gap therebetween, said mop elementnipper and stick structure further comprising a handling stick extendingrearwardly from the rear side of said base member in a slightlydownwardly angled direction relative to the central longitudinal axis ofsaid diverging gap defined between the opposing top faces of theT-shapes of said upper and the lower nipping rods. The mop having thisstructure provides a resiliency and handling convenience which has neverbefore been possible in cleaning or dusting the external curved bodysurfaces of automobiles or like constructions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of the invention The presentinvention is concerned with a mop element nipper and stick, and moreparticularly, it relates to a nipper and stick for nipping and holdingmop elements comprising a plurality of rods of loops of strands arrangedin the form of clusters and stitched to a piece of tough cloth such ascanvas so as to be used in cleaning or dusting the body surfaces ofautomobiles or like constructions.

(b) Description of the prior art Mops of the prior art which areintended for dusting the body surfaces of automobiles or likeconstructions have been of the structure comprising a plurality offeathers fixed at their ends to a straight anchoring member and a stickwhich extends rearwardly from the rear end of said mop anchoring memberin straight alignment with the longitudinal axis of said mop anchoringmember. Thus, the anchoring member and stick as an integral bodyprovided no working resiliency when the whole mop head and stickstructure was pressed against the surface of the body to be dusted andmoreover, this integral straight mop head and stick was inconvenientwhen dusting curved body surfaces of automobiles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, the object of the presentinvention to eliminate the drawbacks and inconvenience of the mops ofthe prior art and to provide an improved mop element nipper and stickwhich is suitable and convenient when used in cleaning or dusting thecurved body surfaces of automobiles or like constructions. Moreparticularly, the present invention contemplates the provision of a mopelement nipper and stick which is adapted to anchor mop elements whichconsist of a plurality of rows of loops of strands arranged in clusterform and stitched to a piece of tough cloth such as canvas, said mopelement nipper and stick featuring in that the handling stick isslightly angled relative to the central longitudinal axis of the mopelement nipping member so that the cleaning or dusting of the curvedbody surfaces of automobiles or like constructions is performed withgreat convenience and easiness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the mopelement nipper and stick of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a representation viewed from the left side of the mop elementnipper and stick shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a complete mop in its state that mophead which comprises a plurality of mop elements stitched to a piece oftough cloth is nipped by the nipper and stick of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the mop in FIG. 3 with partsbroken away and represented in an enlarged scale;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the rear side of the mop elementsstitched to strips of tough cloth; and

FIG. 7 is a front view of a part of the loops of strands, showing thedetailed structure of such loops.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention willhereunder be described in further detail on one embodiment by referringto the ac companying drawing which is given only by way of example.

In the drawing, the mop element nipper and stick of the presentinvention comprises a box-like base member 1 which is formed centrallyof the nipper and stick structure with a material selected from thegroup consisting of metals and hard synthetic resins, two upper andlower nipping rods 2, 2 each having a T-shaped cross section andextending forwardly in a tapering fashion from the front side of saidbase member, the opposing faces of the substantially horizontaltransverse flange-like members of said T-shaped nipping rods partingfrom each other with a gradually increasing clearance 4 therebetween asthe nipping rods go closer to said base member to form a diverging gapbetween the opposing faces 3, 3 of these T- shaped nipping rods, so thatthe foremost ends of these two nipping rods are brought into resilientcontact with each other, said mop element nipper and stick furthercomprising a handling stick 5 having a cross-shaped cross section andextending rearwardly from the rear side of said base member in aslightly downwardly angled direction, for example, an angle of 10degrees, relative to the central longitudinal axis of said diverging gapdefined between the top faces of the T-shapes of said upper and thelower nipping rods.

Reference numeral 6 represents generally a mop element which is to benipped by the nipping rods. In forming this mop element, two tape-likestrips 7 and 7' different in length and made of a tough cloth are laidone upon another and they are stitched firmly to each other along thebilateral edges as indicated at 8 and 8 in such a way that opposite endportions of the strip 7 having a length greater than the other extendbeyond the opposite end edges of the strip having a smaller length. Aplurality of rows of loops of strand 9 made of appropriate twisted toughyarns are stitched at their bases of the loops to said strip 7 having agreater length. The mop element thus prepared is folded in two along theupper and the lower nipping rods 2 and 2 and are inserted edgewise(meaning that the forward ends of the nipping rods lead when they areinserted) into the upper and the lower tubular spaces each being closedat the foremost end by the fold and being defined by each pair of thesuperimposed cloth strips 7 and 7 which are stitched together alongtheir longitudinal side edges to form an opening at the free endportions thereof. Each of the upper and the lower nipping rods isinserted into said tubular space while resisting the resiliency of thematerial with which these nipping rods are made, and thus the nippingrods are placed in the spaces in tight engagement with the inner facesof the upper and the lower strips of cloth which define each of saidspaces. These nipping rods 2 and 2 are forced into said tubular spacesup to the foremost closed ends. Along with this, the elastic recovery ofthe compressed rods causes the substantially fiat top faces 3 and 3 ofthe T- shaped nipping rods 2 and 2 to be rendered to assume positionswhich are close to each other, with the result that the mop element 6 ispositively nipped by the upper and the lower nipping rods 2 and 2 insuch a way that the loops of the mop element 6 surround the entire outersurfaces of the superimposed nipping rods 2 and 2.

The mop head thus produced by the mop element nipper and sticker of thepresent inventionsurrounds the entire outer surfaces of the superimposednipping rods 2 and 2, so that the complete mop can be used in variousdirections in dusting or cleaning the body surfaces of automobiles andlike constructions in much the same way as is effected by a mop made offeathers. However, the slightly angled arrangement of the handling stickportion of the device of the present invention relative to thelongitudinal center line of the folded mop element affords theconvenience that the curved surfaces of the top as well as the verticalside surfaces of automobiles and like constructions can be cleaned ordusted with great easiness as compared with the mops of the prior art.

The mop having this structure provides a resiliency and a handlingconvenience which has never before been possible in cleaning or dustingthe external curved body surfaces of automobiles or like constructions.

What is claimed is:

1. A mop element nipper and stick for the manufacture of a mop intendedfor use in cleaning and dusting the body surfaces of automobiles or likeconstructions and being made of a material selected from the groupconsisting of metals, hard synthetic resins and wood and having thestructure comprising a base member formed in the central portionthereof, two upper and lower nipping rods each having a T-shaped crosssection and extending forwardly from the front, side of said basemember, said T-shaped rods being arranged in such a way that the tophorizontal faces of the flange-like members of these T- shapes opposeeach other, said opposing faces of the substantially horizontaltransverse flange-like members of said T-shaped nipping rods being incontact with each other at the foremost ends of said nipping rods andparting from each other with a gradually increasing clearancetherebetween as the nipping rods go closer to said base member to form adiverging gap therebetween, said mop nipper and stick structure furthercomprising a handling stick extending rearwardly from the rear side ofsaid base member in a slightly angled direction relative to the centrallongitudinal axis of said diverging gap defined between the opposing topfaces of the T-shapes of said upper and the lower nipping rods.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,558,509 10/1925 Schweitzer15147 2,310,156 2/1943 Van der Clute 24138.5UX 2,429,557 10/1947Maccaferri 24-138 2,591,477 4/1952 Tegarty 24-137 3,279,479 10/1966Solomon 24-137.5X

FOREIGN PATENTS 832,463 7/1938 France 15-1470 15,989 7/1907 GreatBritain 15-147.2

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 15229; 24255

